Nottinghamshire woman 'heartbroken' over smuggled puppy

Care worker Beverley Standen found her beagle puppy Kaz had a Romanian microchip

A woman said she was left heartbroken after learning a puppy she bought online had been smuggled into the UK illegally.

Beverley Standen, a care worker from Carlton in Nottinghamshire, bought a beagle puppy called Kaz for £1,500.

But weeks after she bought it, she found the dog had a Romanian microchip and would have to be quarantined.

Nottinghamshire Trading Standards said the dog was one of 11 to have been brought to the area illegally in 2020.

'Very distressing'

Miss Standen told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that when she had bought Kaz, she was told she had been been vaccinated and microchipped.

"But when we checked out the microchip, it turned out to be Romanian and that's when trading standards got involved," she said.

She was told Kaz was too young to have had her rabies inoculation and would need to be quarantined in kennels, leaving Miss Standen with a further £1,200 bill.

Miss Standen said seeing her young pet taken from her home was "heartbreaking".

"I know it's our fault, because we didn't do enough checks, but we'd been saving up for a couple of years and we came across this one and decided to go ahead with it," she said.

Fiona Needham, a team manager at Nottinghamshire Trading Standards, said there was a risk that puppies that had come to the UK illegally may have rabies.

"That's why we get involved, to make sure we keep the UK rabies free," she said.

She added demand for dogs had risen during lockdown and warned people to purchase from licensed UK breeders.

"We're encouraging people to go to reputable buyers, as opposed to buying a puppy from someone they don't know," she said.

"If a dog seems a bargain in terms of price, there's usually a reason for that.

"It is very distressing. You don't want to have your dog taken off you when you've just bought it, especially a little puppy."